Colombia to Ban Bullfighting

President Gustavo Petro of Colombia has signed a law banning bullfighting in the country. "We cannot tell the world that killing living and sentient beings for entertainment is culture," Petro said yesterday at a ceremony attended by hundreds of animal rights activists in a Bogotá bullfighting arena. The bullfighting arena will become a stage for "culture, sport, life and not death," the president said. The country now has three years to convert bullfighting arenas into culture and art centres. The workers who earned their livelihood from bullfighting would need to be retrained, Petro said, noting that as many of them as possible should be kept on board. The law dubbed "No más olé," meaning no more olé - the cheer used during bullfights, was passed by Congress in a historic decision at the end of May. Bullfighting has been a tradition in Colombia since the Spanish colonial period. Animal rights activists have repeatedly protested against it in recent years. Colombia was one of eight countries that allow bullfighting as a legal activity, along with Spain, Portugal, France, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Source: Oman News Agency